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Charmander Line/RBY
Charmander is available as a starter in Oak's Lab. The ever-unfortunate starter of Kanto, doomed to stay in Oak's Lab or be on the rival's team in many runs. The Charmander line has had its share of misfortunes throughout the history of Pokémon, and they're plain glaring in the very first generation: no viable STAB until the late game, good-but-not-great attacking stats that often prevent it from one-shotting opponents, a grand total of four weaknesses when fully evolved (including Ice, which Fire does not resist in this generation) one of which is a dual weakness, and a general difficulty in usage overall... all of these characteristics make most nuzlockers prefer Bulbasaur or Squirtle, and rightfully so, in terms of sheer power. However, Charmander is certainly an interesting pick for people who want an addition to the challenge: it will make even Brock and Misty difficult to fight, but also fare considerably better than its awful start in the long run. Important Matchups - Yellow = * Gym #2 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Don't. With Staryu and Starmie both carrying Water STAB, and Charmeleon having nothing to hit them with for serious damage, this fight is simply a lost cause. You might perhaps try using Dig against Staryu and hope for the 2HKO, but it's still a risk and Starmie is off limits either way. * Rival (S.S. Anne): Charmeleon can reasonably hope to defeat his whole team, as he only has Normal-types and a Sandshrew. Watch out for Spearow's Fury Attack and Sandshrew's Slash - if one hit crits in the former, they all will, and Slash has a very high critical hit rate as well - as well as Rattata's Hyper Fang if your health is low, but otherwise, the fight should not be much trouble. Only accuracy shenanigans with Sandshrew's and Eevee's Sand-Attack might bother you, but switching out is enough to nullify them. * Gym #3 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Raichu's Thunderbolt is way out of Charmeleon's league, and also has approximately a 20% chance of critting, which is even worse. Charizard is weak to it, so even overgrinding heavily is not an option: stay away from this fight. Dig won't save you either, because you will be outsped as Charmeleon, and potentially even as Charizard. * Rival (Pokémon Tower): Fearow's Fury Attack is potentially threatening for Charmeleon, if it either crits or hits five times in a row; it might be better for a teammate to take it on if possible. Sandshrew and Eevee should be as easy as they were before, as their movesets are the same. Vulpix is basically a mirror match, but Charmeleon has better stats and should have the upper hand; Magnemite only has SonicBoom that actually does a good deal of damage, so if your health is high enough to take one, you should be able to defeat it within a couple turns as well. Shellder is to be avoided at all costs: not only Clamp is supereffective, it will also trap you until it finishes attacking. * Giovanni (Rocket Hideout, Ground-type): Don't even try coming close to Onix's Rock Throw, it will hurt a LOT. Rhyhorn only has Horn Attack, but it's still not ideal to fight for Charmeleon unless it has Dig, which will somewhat easily deal with it; you might still need to heal in between, though, because Rhyhorn is sturdy. Persian's Bite and fairly high critical hit rate are both deterrents to attempt this fight, so leave it to a more physically durable teammate if you can help it. * Gym #4 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Everything is weak to Ember. Let Charmeleon feast on their bodies. Be sure to bring Awakenings, however, in the event that Weepinbell or Gloom put you to sleep; it should also be noted that Tangela has Bind, which will prevent you from attacking until the turns of Bind are over, so you might also need a healing item or two if you plan on taking it on with Charmeleon. * Gym #5 - Koga (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Flamethrower EVERYTHING. This is likely Charizard's only easy battle in the whole game! * Fighting Dojo (Saffron City, Fighting-type): Hitmonlee's Mega Kick and Hitmonchan's Mega Punch are no fun to tank, but Charizard has the Fighting resistance and permacrit Slash on its side, so it should be able to win the battle. Fly is even better if you already have it, and should get rid of both of them in one go, or at least Hitmonlee, which has low defensive stats. * Gym #6 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): In order to defeat anything at all in this gym, Charizard needs its Speed and accuracy boosted, as Abra will start spamming Flash like there's no tomorrow and both Kadabra and Alakazam can outspeed Charizard and hurt it a lot. An Attack boost would not be uncalled for, either, just to be sure that Dig will OHKO everything. Pack X items and you'll do fine. * Rival (Silph Co.): If already equipped with Flamethrower, Charizard should defeat Sandslash in one hit; otherwise, it might take considerable damage from its critical Slash. Flamethrower is also a must to face Magneton, whose ThunderShock might otherwise deal annoying amounts of damage with its high Special. Any physical move, preferably Dig, will do well against Ninetales, and will also take care of Kadabra if you're at least one level higher or otherwise certain to outspeed; Cloyster must be avoided at all costs, for the same reason as before. Of all the Eeveelutions, Flareon is the only one Charizard should attempt to fight, because Jolteon is faster and crits easily and Vaporeon has both Water Gun and Aurora Beam which are supereffective against Charizard, and will hit hard despite their low base power. * Giovanni (Silph Co., Ground-type): Nidorino and Nidoqueen are both weak to Dig, and Charizard should defeat them without problems if it has that move. Dig will also do okay against Rhyhorn, but switching out is advised if it gets off two or more Tail Whips. Persian is about the same as before, but Charizard finds it much less threatening than Charmeleon did, and Slash should take care of it just fine. * Gym #7 - Blaine (Cinnabar Island, Fire-type): Ninetales has Confuse Ray, and confusion cannot be healed by means other than switching out or wearing off in this generation; if Dig doesn't OHKO, switch out or you will risk hitting yourself for more damage than you want. Rapidash's Fire Spin can be a dangerous trap, even when resisted, but once again, Dig could well net the OHKO and have Charizard never worry about such a thing again. This move is, however, a double-edged sword against Arcanine, because it has Reflect and could set it up while Charizard is underground; Slash might be better for it, and Charizard should withdraw if Reflect is set up either way, as Arcanine's Take Down is hatoful hurtful. * Gym #8 - Giovanni (Viridian City, Ground-type): * Rival (Route 22, pre-League): * Elite Four Lorelei (Indigo Plateau, Ice-type): * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): * Elite Four Agatha (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): * Elite Four Lance (Indigo Plateau, Dragon-type): * Champion Rival (Indigo Plateau): * Post-Game: }} Moves Charmander starts off with Scratch and Growl in Red and Blue; in Yellow, when received, it also knows Ember, which it learns at level 9. Ember is its only level-up STAB move for a long while, and should be held onto tightly until then. Charmander learns Leer at level 15, but it will generally not be useful to keep; after evolving, Charmeleon gets Rage at 24, which is a very dangerous move to use in nuzlockes, as it locks the user until it either defeats the opponent or faints, and defeating opponents with Rage is not easy. Next, the line gets Slash at 33, which is quite powerful with its guaranteed critical hit, but its typing is not too useful and it should not be kept if there are better coverage options available. Charizard will try to relearn Slash at 36 as well, and it then gets Flamethrower at 46, arguably the only level-up move you will keep for the long term. The last move the line learns naturally is Fire Spin, which comes at level 55, and is ridiculously overpowered in this generation, as it will prevent the opponent from attacking until it's freed, and even then, on the turn the opponent is freed it won't be able to attack; it's the perfect way of wearing down a foe that cannot otherwise be beaten, but the 70% accuracy also means it won't be a foolproof strategy without an X Accuracy. Charizard's only option in the special TMs department is Fire Blast, which is a power upgrade of Flamethrower, but also less accurate; which move to choose amongst these two is up to personal play styles. In the physical department, one of the most popular moves is certainly Earthquake, which is sadly unavailable until much later into the game; Dig, however, is equally powerful, and Charizard has nothing to fear when underground, as Ground moves are not effective against it. Submission offers Fighting coverage as well, but is both inaccurate and carries recoil damage with it; use at own risk. Fly is a good STAB move to have as well, but sadly unavailable in Red and Blue, as Charizard can only learn it in Yellow. Lastly, for any physical or predominantly physical set, Swords Dance is the best power-up option, as Charizard's natural Attack is alright, but not overly powerful. If running Swords Dance, another must have is Hyper Beam, which benefits greatly from not needing the recharge turn in case it KOs the opponent when used. If you want your Charizard to have better bulk, you can also give Reflect a thought. Recommended moveset: Swords Dance, Flamethrower, Earthquake / Dig, Fly Yellow / Submission / Hyper Beam Other Charmander's stats Charmeleon's stats Charizard's stats * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Unless you want to keep your Charmander a Charmander until level 38 just to get Flamethrower earlier, there is really no reason to wait on either evolution. Charmander should become a Charmeleon between after Brock and the arrival in Cerulean, and Charmeleon should become a Charizard sometime after Erika is fought, and before Koga and Sabrina. * How good is the Charmander line in a Nuzlocke? Simply put, Kanto HATES Charmander. Picking Charmander in Kanto means going for easy region hard mode. It doesn't get any good moves until Slash, which is only about decent, and Flamethrower comes preposterously late; on top of that, it has more unfavourable matchups than either of the other starters and only really fares well enough with Swords Dance support, which it needs to use without either STAB in Red and Blue because one is special, and the other is inaccessible. Charizard is not a Pokémon that will give you an easy time in this region, though it will certainly be a challenge to train one. * Weaknesses: Water, Electric (neutrality if not fully evolved), Ice (neutrality if not fully evolved), Rock (x4, x2 if not fully evolved) * Resistances: Bug, Fire, Fighting (neutrality if not fully evolved), Grass (x0.25, x0.5 if not fully evolved) * Immunities: Ground (weakness if not fully evolved) * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ghost, Psychic, Dragon Category:Fire-Type Category:Flying-Type Category:Kanto Category:Red/Blue/Yellow